Saunders WDFN notes: We could be better without Ben

Flip Saunders tells WDFN Detroit that the Pistons will miss Ben Wallace, but the Pistons will improve in many areas without him.

Q: We haven't talked to you for a couple of months, do you have any reflections on how last season ended? Any reflection on what went awry in the Miami series?

A: I'll tell you what happened, we lost Game 1. After fighting all year for home-court advantage, and letting things slip away in the Cleveland series where we had to exert a lot of energy, we got caught in a situation where we basically had a one-day turnaround to get ready and play Miami and they caught us in Game 1.

Miami was playing very well though, and Dwyane Wade got into one of those unbelievable rhythms. No matter who they played, he was phenomenal, and he pretty much carried that team down the stretch for the last five weeks of the season.

Q: Your team was so good offensively and it seemed to come to a halt against Cleveland. Is there anything you can pinpoint as a reason everybody got cold at once.

A: Well it's something as a coach that you can't believe it happened. It's very rare for everybody to get shut down at once. Rasheed was playing at 70% and if it was the regular season he wouldn't have been playing. He's a very important part about what we do offensively. We got hurt a little bit by the hack-a-Ben, because missed free throws take away momentum, and you suddenly have more pressure every trip down the court to score. It prevented us from keeping us get into a flow.

Q: One of the themes that have surfaced is tired legs. People wondered all season if the bench was being used enough. Is that something that reared its ugly head in the playoffs? Do you buy that at all?

A: It's a combination of things. We actually got quite a bit of rest at the end of the season since we had things locked up. I was talking to veteran who was a top player in his day, and he said that they used to play 46-47 minutes a day and take a train to the next city to play back to back games. So it just depends on the situation. Our guys have played a ton of minutes over the last three or four years with all the playoff games. It's really a catch-22, we played the bench sometimes and they didn't produce as much as we needed them to. Next season we're going to have to make it a priority to the point where we may have to sacrifice some regular season wins in order to develop the bench.

Q: What's your take on why Ben Wallace left and what was your relationship with him like?

A: We had a normal professional relationship. I would say we had a positive relationship. As most things that happen in business, it comes down to money. You can always say it has nothing to do with money, but it almost always does.

Q: Beyond the money, do you think Ben was starting to feel like he didn't fit in here?

A: You know, it's been like that with every coach he's been with. Ben is what he is; a defensive player. It was very obvious, especially against Miami, that if Ben got the ball in a position to score, they were going to foul him, and he wasn't making the free throw shots which will kill a team's momentum. I don't think it was my offense, if you're struggling like that, it could be anyone's offense. I think there's no question we'll miss things about Ben, but there are going to be areas where we will be better. That happens every time you lose a player. I'm excited about Nazr. He's long, he's a good offense rebounder, he has the ability to post up and he just lets us do some of the things we really want to do.

Q: Were you surprised when you heard he was leaving for Chicago?

A: No, I wasn't surprised. I thought based on where we were and what we were going to be able to do financially with a guy that was in the top five in the MVP race becoming a free agent next season, there was a chance he wouldn't be back. I was a little bit surprised how much money Ben received, but in this business they treat it like Monopoly money.

Q: Ben didn't talk about Rasheed at all when he left. Was there a rift between those two players at all?

A: No, this is a very close team. He probably just forgot to talk about Rasheed, there wasn't any animosity.

Q: How different will this team be next season?

A: We'll be different in some areas, and I think we'll be better in some areas. Prince is developing into a go-to type player. Delfino, with not having the riff between he and Mo Evans, will not have to worry about having an opportunity. You look back to last season and many of our best fourth quarters was when McDyess was on the court with Rasheed. I think McDyess will get more playing time and push himself to become the All-Star type player he was like five or six years ago.

This is a different league than a few years ago, and the rules have taken away most of things you can do defensively. We had players resent that we used zone defense, but you look at when Miami struggled, it was against zone. You have to have two or three guys guard Wade and LeBron because if you touch those guys its a foul.

Q: Have the Pistons taken a step back with LeBron and Wade emerging?

A: We still won 64 games. We lost a key player in Ben, and when you look at most teams that lose a player of that stature it hurts, but we nearly had five All-Stars. The way this team is made up, with the focus not on one player, we will still be strong, and we'll be able to do a lot of things we want to do. I think we may be stronger defensively because we'll try to do some more new things.

Q: Did you enjoy your first year here?

A: Yeah, it was a great run until the end. That's unfortunate, but that's part of the game. I'm even more excited about next year. Billups, Prince, Sheed and Hamilton were all great and they will have an even greater chance to step up and perform this upcoming season. People will look at this as Chauncey's team and will look for him to start taking over games for this team.